May Day

Something we did in the fifties, fast became a dying tradition. Even just one generation later, my kids didn't do this or know anything about it. It was May Day and no this is not the distress signal. It was the day (May 1st) that we handmade small paper baskets complete with a handle. We made them out of any kind of paper we could find. Sometimes it was construction paper, wrapping paper, even plain white paper that we would color a picture on. We would put a few pieces of candy like jelly beans or candy corns in the basket. Then we usually put a couple little flowers in there. The flowers were usually from the lawn, like dandilions or " small yard daisies". These are very pretty to a child, not weeds at all. We would deliver them to our friends in the neighborhood. We would hang them on their doorknob or lay them on their porch for them to find. Of course all kids knew to check the porch and doorknobs on May Day!We liked this as much if not more than Valentine's Day. For that we would buy a box of valentines and pick out special ones for our best friends. We didn't give cards to everyone like the kids do today.